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Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

106 Colleges
$26,022 Avg Salary
$26,083 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree School for You

Visual & Performing Arts is one of the most popular subjects to study in California. With 22,397 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, it ranked 10th out of all the majors we track in the state.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 106 schools in California to see which ones were the most popular bachelor's degree programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Visual & Performing Arts program at each school on the list.

The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Colleges.

Our 2023 rankings named California State University - Long Beach the most popular school in California for visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 62% of the visual and performing arts majors at the school.

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#2

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

Out of the 106 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Francisco State University landed the # 2 spot on the list. SFSU is a fairly large public school located in the large city of San Francisco.

Women make up 53% of the visual and performing arts majors at the school.

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Out of the 106 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Southern California landed the # 3 spot on the list. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

About 54% of the students majoring in visual and performing arts at the school are women while 46% are male.

Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at University of Southern California

The in-demand bachelor’s degree programs at California State University - Fullerton helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular visual and performing arts schools in California. Located in the large suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 63% of the visual and performing arts majors at the school.

Full Visual & Performing Arts at California State University - Fullerton Report

#5

Los Angeles Film School

Hollywood, CA

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Los Angeles Film School is a great place for visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. LA Film School is a moderately-sized private for-profit school located in the large city of Hollywood.

About 32% of the students majoring in visual and performing arts at the school are women while 68% are male.

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University of California - Santa Cruz ranked #6 on this year’s Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public school located in the city of Santa Cruz.

About 51% of the students majoring in visual and performing arts at the school are women while 49% are male.

Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at University of California - Santa Cruz

California State University - Northridge did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for visual and performing arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. CSUN is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Northridge.

Of the 471 students majoring in visual and performing arts at CSUN, 44% are male and 56% are female.

Full Visual & Performing Arts at California State University - Northridge Report

University of California - Irvine came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public college with a fairly large student population.

About 71% of the students majoring in visual and performing arts at the school are women while 29% are male.

Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at University of California - Irvine

With a ranking of #9, San Jose State University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a very large student population.

Of the 465 students majoring in visual and performing arts at San Jose State, 42% are male and 58% are female.

Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at San Jose State University

University of California - Davis ranked #10 on this year’s Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Of the 421 students majoring in visual and performing arts at UC Davis, 25% are male and 75% are female.

Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at University of California - Davis

University of California - Los Angeles came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Of the 383 students majoring in visual and performing arts at UCLA, 36% are male and 64% are female.

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With a ranking of #12, University of California - Santa Barbara did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Of the 374 students majoring in visual and performing arts at UCSB, 37% are male and 63% are female.

Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at University of California - Santa Barbara

#13

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

San Diego State University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. SDSU is a fairly large public school located in the large city of San Diego.

Women make up 64% of the visual and performing arts majors at the school.

Full Visual & Performing Arts at San Diego State University Report

Art Center College of Design did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for visual and performing arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #14 on the list. Art Center College of Design is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Pasadena.

Of the 316 students majoring in visual and performing arts at Art Center College of Design, 34% are male and 66% are female.

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University of California - Riverside landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular bachelor’s degree visual and performing arts programs. Located in the city of Riverside, UCR is a public school with a fairly large student population.

About 59% of the students majoring in visual and performing arts at the school are women while 41% are male.

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Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also popular but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in California award.

Rank College Location
16 Chapman University Orange, CA
17 California State University - Chico Chico, CA
18 California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA
19 Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA
20 University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA
21 Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA

Best Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 1,718
Oregon 1,672
Hawaii 196
Nevada 554
Alaska 60

Visual & Performing Arts Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 37,413
Design & Applied Arts 36,301
Music 25,910
Drama & Theater Arts 17,341
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 16,778
General Visual & Performing Arts 6,355
Arts & Media Management 4,788
Dance 3,288
Other Visual Art 912
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry 119
Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art 10

Related Major Annual Graduates
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities 556,813
English Language & Literature 54,635
Foreign Languages & Linguistics 33,333
Theology & Religious Vocations 27,459
Philosophy & Religious Studies 19,993

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Bonnielou2013.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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